If you’ve never seen the 1998 made-for-TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD, then I suggest you stop whatever you’re doing (after you finish reading this, natch) and watch it, because it is a glorious piece of nonsense. The Fox movie starred David Hasselhoff as the titular retired secret agent, who was living on an island and minding his own business when SHIELD pulled him back in to help them battle the terrorist organization HYDRA. It also stars FilmDrunk’s favorite actress of all-time, Lisa Rinna, and a bunch of other people you’ve never heard of.
The reason that this is even remotely relevant now is because Hasselhoff recently revealed that he didn’t quite care for Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal of Fury in Marvel’s The Avengers and its various individual superhero movies, and that Stan Lee himself gave Hasselhoff his ultimate seal of approval.
“I was the first Nick Fury,” he said. “Stan Lee put me in that. He gave me the best line ever: ‘Guys like you tend to cling to the bowl no matter how many times you flush’.”
“Stan Lee came on the set and told me all about Nick,” he added. “He said ‘You’re the ultimate Nick Fury’. He gave me the greatest compliment ever.” (Via Yahoo! UK)
And regarding Jackson’s more recent portrayal:
“You know, it wasn’t Nick Fury,” he said. “They take these shows and they make it the way they want to make it and unfortunately, they should have had Stan Lee on the set and let him kick him into gear – whoever directed [Avengers Assemble] decided they wanted to go that way. But it’s their prerogative. He’s still a great actor.”
“I was hoping to have played him in the movie,” he revealed. “And then Samuel L. Jackson came in and he was a great Nick Fury but he wasn’t really the consummate Nick Fury, the way he was written. And I think that’s a shame because he’s a great character and a funny character… I’m hoping to do it again sometime.”
Good luck with that, Dave. I’m sure “whoever directed” The Avengers is going to be falling all over himself to figure out a way to get the 61-year old singer of “Jump in My Car” to replace Jackson. But to the Hoff’s credit as a consummate gentleman, he did also follow up on Twitter with an apology to Jackson.
Set the record straight..Samuel Jackson is one of my favorite actors, a friend and I wish him well in all his roles especially Nick Fury !
— David Hasselhoff (@DavidHasselhoff) September 5, 2013
If you ask me, though, the only apology owed to us is by Fox for not releasing Nick Fury in theaters in 1998. This glory should never be denied. Enjoy!